What We Missed Out On
by Dreamer Boy
Summary: A ball is taking place at Hogwarts, but Hermione is feeling miserable, because nobody has asked her to go with them. Will a certain red-haired boy work up the courage to ask her? One shot. R/H with some H/G.


**Hey, guys. :) This is my second Harry Potter fanfiction. I don't read or write Harry Potter stories that much, but I'm still a big fan - and this is for all you fans. :) My first one was a really terrible parody, so I hope this one will be better. It's a R/H story, along with some H/G, so if you prefer some other pairings, such as H/H or whatever, then you'd probably be better off reading something else. Please don't bash this story, just because you don't like the pairings.**

**If you're a fan of these pairings, then read on. I sure hope you enjoy. :)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. It belongs to J. K. Rowling.**

* * *

The Great Hall was filled with the sounds of feet tapping on the floor and romantic music being played by an orchestra.

A ball was taking place at Hogwarts. The students were on the dance floor, happily waltzing to the rhythm of the music. The boys lifted their female dance partners, getting squeals of joy in response, then dipped them, smiling down at them, and finally lifted them to their feet, proceeding to lead the dancing to the slow pace of the music.

Harry was dancing with Ginny, gazing down at her with a happy smile, his hands on the sides of her waist. He was dressed in his dress robes that he had worn in the Yule Ball. He was enjoying his dance with Ginny, and from the smile on her face, it seemed she was enjoying it as well. Ginny beamed at Harry, following his dance moves, her arms wrapped around his neck. She was wearing the same dress she had worn in the Yule Ball. This was a moment she would not forget.

"Wow, Harry," she mused, holding her smile. "Why didn't you ask me to go with you when we had the Yule Ball? I would have had a better time with you than I did with Neville. All he did was stand on my toes."

A cry of pain shot from the other end of the Great Hall. Harry turned to the direction it had come from and grinned upon seeing Neville apologising to Parvati Patil, who was fuming while rubbing her toes. "It seems his dancing hasn't improved. I bet Parvati wishes she was with me now."

"Aren't I lucky you chose me?" laughed Ginny. "But seriously, Harry, why didn't you ask me when we had the Yule Ball?"

Harry's grin faded. He turned back to Ginny with a nervous look. "I thought I, er...could find someone better."

Ginny's happy expression changed to a horrified one. She glared furiously at Harry, but before she could yell at him, Harry lifted her off her feet and spun on the spot. "But I was wrong. You're the best dancer ever, Ginny."

Ginny grinned and squealed with delight as she was spun around. Harry then placed her back down on her feet and she smiled up at him. "This is a wonderful night, isn't it?"

Harry smiled back and opened his mouth to speak, but looked over Ginny's shoulder and spotted a certain red-haired Griffindor student, sitting at a table all by himself, dressed in the same old-fashioned dress robes he had worn to the Yule Ball. A sulky expression was on his face. Harry's smiled faded. "Not for all of us."

Ginny looked over her shoulder and spotted her brother. "Well, it's his own fault if he didn't ask Hermione."

"It's not too late." Harry started to walk away from Ginny and walked towards where Ron was sitting.

"Harry!" Ginny cried, annoyed, frowning at him. "Leave him alone. Let that grumpy brother of mine have a miserable night. We're supposed to be having a lovely one."

Harry looked over his shoulder without stopping. "This won't take long, Ginny."

Harry then reached the table where Ron was sitting and took a seat for himself. "Hey. You okay?"

Ron scowled and shook his head without looking at Harry.

Harry cleared his throat. "Y'know, you're supposed to be happy in a ball, not scowl."

"Yeah, well it's no fun being in a ball on your own," replied Ron sourly, resting his head on the table.

"Well, if you just sit there and scowl, no girl will wanna go with you."

"They wouldn't wanna go with me anyway. Hermione certainly didn't want to."

"How do you know?" Harry frowned. "You never asked her."

"She didn't wanna go with me in the Yule Ball. And she certainly wouldn't wanna go with me to this ball. She'd rather go with someone else."

"But it seems no one wants to go with her, Ron. Nobody has asked her to be their date. She isn't here. I expect she's all alone, up in the Griffindor common room."

"So?"

"Harry!" Ginny called impatiently, her hands on her hips.

Harry glanced back at Ginny, then stood up and faced Ron. "Look. You want Hermione to be your date, right?"

"Yeah."

"Well then, go up to the common room and ask her."

"But I don't think she wants to go with me!" cried Ron, looking worried.

Harry started to walk back towards Ginny, but looked over his shoulder at his best friend, smirking. "I think she's rather be with you, Ronald, than all on her own." With that, Harry turned to an annoyed Ginny, took her by the hands and started dancing again.

Ron stood up nervously, a knot inside his stomach. He really wanted to ask Hermione to be his date, but since he had upset her on the night of the Yule Ball, he didn't think she would want to go with him. Ron was feeling guilty about it. He really cared for Hermione and although he often argued with her, he didn't like seeing her sad. He wondered how she was feeling about being all alone in the Griffindor common room with no one to take her to the ball.

_Probably as miserable as I'm feeling, _he thought. A smile crept across his face. He began to make his way out of the Great Hall. _I'm gonna show Hermione what we missed out on when I didn't ask her to go to the Yule Ball with me in time._

Harry grinned as he watched Ron leave the Great Hall. "Now Ron and Hermione can have a lovely night together."

"Finally!" Ginny retorted huffily, grabbing Harry's jacket. She pulled on it, bringing him much closer to her and his head down to her level. As Harry's face came right up to hers, Ginny grinned triumphantly at him. "So can we."

* * *

Up in the Griffindor common room, Hermione was all alone, sitting in an armchair by the fireplace. She was wearing the same pink dress she had worn to the Yule Ball and her hair was tied up in the same way. A tear rolled slowly down her cheek as she sobbed softly.

She had been hoping that Ron would ask her to go to the ball with him before somebody else asked her. Instead, he had been ignoring her since the Hogwarts students had been informed of the ball taking place. The only times Ron would be near Hermione would be in their classes, where he would remain silent and not ask her the question she wanted him to ask.

Believing this to be typical of Ron, Hermione soon gave up on hoping he would ask her and decided to go with whoever asked her first. But nobody did ask her. Now everybody was down in the Great Hall, all having a lovely time, and Hermione was all on her own in the common room. She had put on her dress and tied her hair up to try to imagine herself at the ball, dancing with Ron. However, realizing that she was not with Ron and was all on her own, Hermione could only think about how she had not been asked to go with anyone at all, which he thought meant nobody wanted her. The thought stayed in her head as she cried softly.

She was on her own for ten minutes, sobbing to herself. Then she heard footsteps as someone was making their way into the common room. Hermione didn't think it was someone who had come to ash her to go with them. She continued to cry and let the tears fall, when a familiar voice called out her name. "Hermione?"

Recognising the voice immediately, and not the boy she loved to see her crying, Hermione tried to hold her sobs in and quickly wiped her tears away. Ron came into view and stood in front of her. For a moment, he was awestruck by how Hermione looked with her hair tied up and while wearing the pink dress. He had forgotten how beautiful he had secretly thought she had looked on the night of the Yule Ball, but he had not forgotten that he secretly thought she looked beautiful anyway.

Ron looked up from the dress to see Hermione wiping away her tears. He frowned with concern. "What's wrong, Hermione?"

Hermione looked up at Ron through teary eyes and smiled sadly. "Nothing, Ron."

Ron's frown deepened. "I know there's something wrong, Hermione."

Hermione's smile faded and she gave Ron a scowl. "This morning, you didn't know how to cast a spell that was so simple. So how would _you_, Ron Weasley, know how I feel?"

"I know what it's like when you're all on your own when there's a ball going on and you're all on your own."

Hermione's scowl wiped away from her face and she looked miserably down at her feet. She was trying hard not to start crying again.

"But someone does wanna go with you, Hermione," murmured Ron quietly.

Hermione quickly looked up at Ron in disbelief. She quickly stood up and gazed at him, her mouth hanging open. "Who?!"

Ron nervously looked down at his feet and whispered in reply, "Me."

Hermione frowned, not believing what Ron had just said. She smirked and chuckled humorlessly. "You're just saying that."

"No!" Ron looked up at the girl pleadingly. "I really do wanna go with you, Hermione."

Hermione frowned again and shook her head. "You don't. Ever since the ball was announced, you have been ignoring me. You wouldn't speak to me, let alone ask me to-"

"Hermione, I'm sorry," Ron apologized shamefully, scratching the back of his head. "I really did wanna ask you. But it's really hard for me to ask someone out."

Hermione's frown eased up. "Why is that?"

"Because..." Ron smiled nervously and he continued scratching the back of his head. "...I'm Ron Weasley."

Hermione laughed heartly, then look Ron by his free hand, beaming at him. "Ron, you should have asked me before. I would have agreed to go with you."

"You would have?" Ron gasped, staring at Hermione in disbelief.

"Of course." Hermione's smile faded and she looked down at the floor. "It's not too late, is it?"

Ron smiled and squeezed her hand. "No. The ball is still going. We are gonna have a lovely night together."

Hermione looked up at Ron and grinned, then followed him as he led her out of the common room to take her to the Great Hall. They were finally going to enjoy themselves that night.

* * *

Ron led Hermione into the Great Hall, where music from the orchestra was just dying down. Hermione anxiously narrowed her eyes as Ron led her into the crowd of waltzing couples. "That wasn't the last piece of music, was it?"

"No," replied Ron, smiling. "The ball has hardly started yet."

As the orchestra ended the piece of music they were playing and got ready to play the next one, Ron placed his hands on Hermione's shoulders and turned her to face him. As she looked up at him shyly, he placed his hands on each side of her waist.

Hermione blushed hard, but smiled and placed her hands on Ron's shoulders. "Tell me, do you dance well, Ron?"

Ron grinned widely. "It's time for you to find out, Hermione, what we missed out on."

The orchestra began to play their next piece of music, and the couples began waltzing again. Still smiling, Ron began to walk backwards, keeping his hands on each of Hermione's waist. Hermione followed Ron, walking with him, her hands on his shoulders, smiling up at him. Ron then walked towards Hermione and she walked backwards, their smiles never leaving their faces.

They repeated the back-and-forth movement to the rhythm of the slow orchestral music about five times, then Ron, using all his strength, lifted Hermione off her feet. Hermione gasped with surprise and cried out with delight as she was spun around on the spot.

After Ron placed her back onto her feet, they repeated the back-and-forth movement again, then Ron, wrapping his arms around Hermione's waist, dipped her. Hermione went a bright shade of pink and looked up at Ron with a small smile. Ron smiled back. He was very satisfied that Hermione seemed to be enjoying the waltz as much as he was.

Pulling Hermione to her feet, Ron placed his hands back on each side of her waist. He was about to start the back-and-forth movement again, but as he looked over Hermione's shoulder, he spotted Harry, beaming at him and waving to him. Ron took a hand off Hermione's waist and raised it, waving back, but Hermione grasped his hand and placed it firmly back on her waist, before taking over leading the waltz, while Harry had his hand pulled down by Ginny, who led him out of Ron and Hermione's sight and into the midst of the dancing couples.

Ron and Hermione continued their waltz until the end of the piece of music. After the orchestra finished playing their instruments, Hermione took her hands away from Ron's shoulders, beaming up at him with a blush. "Wow...that was lovely. You're such an amazing dancer, Ron."

Ron grinned, having enjoyed the dance as well. He took hold of Hermione's wrists, placed her hands on his shoulders, then placed his own hands on each side of her waist again. "Well, get ready for more. That was only one piece of music. We've still got lots of pieces of music to be played tonight - and for every one of them, I want to dance with you."

Hermione blushed harder, her heart beating fast. She also wanted to dance with Ron to every song that was played.

As the orchestra began their next piece of music, Hermione gently squeezed Ron's shoulders and followed his moves as he began to lead the dancing again.

* * *

Many hours later, the Great Hall was less packed, as students were getting tired and retiring to their dormitories. A few however, remained on the dance floor, enjoying themselves or at least trying to enjoy themselves.

Ron and Hermione were among the few that were enjoying themselves. They were feeling tired, but had decided to stay until after the very last piece of music, which was being played that very moment by the weary orchestra. With his hands on Hermione's shoulders, Ron swayed gently, looking at Hermione with tired eyes, but also with a happy smile. Hermione smiled back, swaying with Ron. The night had been more magical than any spell she could think of.

"Have you enjoyed yourself, Hermione?" Ron asked in a whisper.

Hermione nodded. "Thanks to you, Ron - I have. Thank you for making my night so wonderful. I didn't think for one minute that tonight would be so lovely. And I didn't think you would be able to make it happen."

Ron grinned modestly. "Well, I have to thank _you_, Hermione, because I thought I was going to have a miserable night too. With you agreeing to go with me, I've had such a lovely time too."

"I just wished you had asked me to go to the Yule Ball with you," murmured Hermione, "before Victor Krum did."

"But you had a nice time with Krum."

"Yeah, I did...before it got ruined."

Ron gazed sadly at the girl he loved, feeling very ashamed, as it was his fault the last ball at Hogwarts was ruined for Hermione. "I'm sorry about that, Hermione. I was-"

"It's okay, Ron." Hermione placed a hand under Ron's chin, smiling up at him. "That was in the past. This is in the present - and you are so much better than Victor."

"I am?" Ron gasped in surprise.

Hermione nodded, then, with the hand on Ron's chin, brought his head closer to hers until their lips connected. The two Griffindor students kissed each other, sharing a moment that would conclude their magical night perfectly. Unknown to them, they were watched by an amused Harry, who, unknown to him, was being frowned at by an annoyed Ginny.

* * *

**So there we go, guys. That was _What We Missed Out On_. :)**

**Sure hope you've enjoyed. Sorry that there wasn't much on Ron and Hermione's time at the ball. I would have found it hard to make it interesting. **

**I apologize if this story isn't that good. If enough people actually like this, perhaps I'll write more Harry Potter stories, which will be better than this one - _and _my first one. :P**

**Well, that's really all there is to say. Thanks for reading. :)**

**See ya!**


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